Earlier this week, my father was lamenting the fact that his boot laces keep coming undone. This is apparently a particular problem when the boot laces in question are under a pair of gaiters, but I personally think it must be mighty annoying at any time.

It turns out, after a swift inspection, that the man has been tying his laces incorrectly for the better part of 60 years. It reminded me of a similar situation during lab coffee in which a former colleague was expressing frustration over his new shoes (ostensibly the same as an old pair) with laces that came undone.

I here pass on that same information, with which I enlightened my dear father, my colleague and about half the others that happened to be present during that particular coffee break that were failing to tie their laces correctly, as a late Christmas present to any readers that may be about:

The loops of your laces in the tied knot should be parallel with the lace as it enters the knot (or balanced), and not at an angle (or unbalanced).

I came across this information at the marvellously geeky Ian’s Shoelace Site. The particular page in question is on slipping shoelaces, which will give you all the details and the photos describing what the problem is and how to get around it.

For all those that previously tied unbalanced shoelace knots, bask in your new found delight of shoelaces that don’t come undone.

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About Henry Gomersall

I'm a engineer wanting to make things actually useful. I'm someone that wants to drive technology and ideas to be helpful for everyone. I'm someone that realises the disconnect between technology and utility and I hope to correct that...

2 Responses to A Public Service Announcement on the Matter of the Tying of One’s Shoelaces

You may intend for us to take this post as humorous but as an engineer I bet you took the physics of tying shoes very seriously. I know how it is. I work in an IT shop and the other day we spent nearly an hour chatting about magnets and rare earth minerals.